Footlet construction

ABSTRACT

The disclosure describes a footlet construction which involves an integrally knitted upper band fitting around the top of the footlet or socklet which need not be assembled from gores and stitching. The socklet is made on a circular knitting machine by using a turned-over top knitted of Lycra yarn on top of a body of nylon yarn. The loops on the elastic top are provided by knitting 30 to 60 courses and preferably about 50 courses on 200 needles with the intervening or alternating needles holding the initial stitch so that a tubular element will be formed serving as the upper elastic band or selvage of the footlet.

United States Patent Mani lhplm Allentown, Pa.

May 4, 1967 Aug. 24, 1971 Sondra Manuhcturing Co., Inc.

[54] P001181 CONSTRUCTION 172] Inventor [2 I l Appl. No. [22] Filed [45]Patented [73] Assignee Primary Examiner- W. C. Reynolds Attorney-HarryPrice ABSTRACT: The disclosure describes a footlet construction whichinvolves an integrally knitted upper band fitting around the top of thefootlet or socklet which need not be assembled from sores and stitching.The socklet is made on a circular knitting machine by using aturned-over top knitted of Lycra yarn on top of a body of nylon yarn.The loops on the elastic top are provided by knitting 30 to 60 coursesand preferably about 50 courses on 200 needles with the intervening oralter nating needles holding the initial stitch so that a tubular element will be formed serving as the upper elastic band or selvage of thefootlet.

PATENTEDAUGZMHYI 1600 BUS FIG. 3

204 INVENTOR.

206 5 206 uoams KAPLAN ATTORNEY FOOTLET CONSTRUCTION The presentinvention relates to footlets and it particularly relates to footletsfor women's and girlswear. Such footlets, which fit the lower part ofthe foot and the toe and heel are worn with or without stockings and itis important that they be of light construction yet durable and devoidof any lumpiness or tendency to gather, which would cause discomfort.

It is desirable that they fit a variety of different foot sizes so thatit is not necessary to manufacture separate models for each foot sizeand that, in accommodating different foot sizes, there should be nodiscomfort tothe wearer either in the lower size range from lumpiness orgathering, or in the upper range because of tension or binding.

It is among the objects of the present invention to provide a novelfootlet of the character described which will accommodate a series offoot sizes, for example, form four to 12 without causing discomfort andwhich may be readily manufactured at low cost by automatic machinerywith little manual labor.

Another object is to provide a novel machine for manufacturing footletswhich will be substantially in condition to be worn without unduestitching, seaming or other fitting operations and which at the sametime will assure a substantially perfect fit over a wide variety of footsizes.

In making footlets it has been customary to form the footlet by cuttinga series of gores and then stitching them together and then providing aselvage which consists of stitching a rubber elastic band around theinterior top thereof and this not only has the disadvantage ofnecessitating additional manual operations but the elastic bands arefrequently not sewn in uniformly at a predetermined position around theselvage and they cause undue tension in fitting the selvage of thefootlet, particularly with the larger sizes.

It is therefore among the objects of the present invention to provide afootlet which will snugly fit the lower portion of the foot without thenecessity for providing elastic bands or braids sewn upon the interiorof the upper edge thereof and which may be readily manufactured withoutadditional manual operation required by such stitching or attachment ofsaid elastic band.

It has also been suggested that it is possible to knit into the upperedge of the footlet elastic strands which may be floated in position oractually knitted in the structure, but this has not been satisfactorybecause of the undue complication of the knitting operation and the needto provide special attachments to the knitting machine and theunsatisfactory result from utilizing a few strands or fillings ofelastic strands to support and permit the secure attachment of the topof the footlet. Therefore it is among the further objects of the presentinvention to make a novel footlet which will securely fit the footwithout the need of rubber elastic of any type and which may be readilyknitted upon circular knitting machines without special attachments orcontrols and it may be produced at low cost without unnecessary manualmanufacturing operations.

Still further objects and advantages will appear in the more detaileddescription set forth below, it being understood, however, that thismore detailed description is given by way of illustration andexplanation only and not by way of limitation, since various changestherein may be made by those skilled in the art without departing fromthe scope and spirit of the present invention.

In accomplishing the above objects it has been found most satisfactoryto knit the footlet as a tube with a turned-over top and a selvagebottom which is seamed together to form a seam extending longitudinallybelow the bottom of the foot terminating substantially inside the toesand heel. Desirably the top portion or tubular portion of the footlet isknitted of Lycra yarn while the body of the footlet is knitted of nylonyarn and the lower edge, which is stitched together to form thelongitudinal seam, is knitted of rayon yarn. It has been found mostsatisfactory that the needle count be well over I50 and desirably thebasic needle count should be of the order of 300 to 500 needles of acircular knitting machine with a preference for 400. The top tubularelastic portion of Lycra should desirably be knitted on between ISO to250 needles with a preferred count of 200 needles.

In the preferred form of the invention the Lycra yarn is 40 denier andcovered with 20 denier nylon. The preferred Lycra yarn has two ends ofthe nylon yarn twisted around it and it is desirably knitted for between30 to 70 courses and desirably about 50 courses on 200 needles withoutuse of the intervening needles and with the intervening needles holdingthe initial stitch so that a tubular element will be formed serving asthe upper elastic selvage of the footlet.

Then the body of the footlet will be knitted from two ends of 70 deniercount stretch nylon, using about to 250 courses and this is carried onfor about to 250 courses with 400 needles. The bottom selvage or loweredge which is stitched together to form a longitudinal seam is thenknitted with a spun-rayon yarn. In the preferred system a 400-needlemachine is operated so that, in making the tubular upper portion, onlyevery second needle is operated to give a 200knit fabric in the tubularelastic portion and this may be done for 48 courses.

Then 206 courses may be knit from two ends of stretch nylon havingopposite twist so that there will be no torque. In the preferred methodof knitting a 200-needle course is first knitted with the Lycra then the400 needles are used for the next course with the Lycra and these400-needle stitches are held on alternate needles which are then drawndownwardly out of operation following which there are 48 courses knit onthe alternate 200 needles from Lycra.

The course 200 is knit in the same manner as the course 203 in that itis knit upon alternate needles. This course 200 is a position 60 in FIG.2. The floats 208 are part of the outer portion of the tube shown at theupper part of FIG. 2, while the floats 209 are part of the inner layerof the tube, and they are shown separated from one another for betterclarity of the drawing.

0n the 49 course the 200 needles are elevated into knitting position andthe feed is changed from Lycra to two ends of stretch nylon of oppositetwist to knit 206 courses, following which the yarn is changed to spunrayon to knit the last five to 10 courses serving as the bottom selvage.

These footlets are made automatically upon the circular knitting machinealternating from 200 to 400 needles with the cam on the back of the drumbeing built up about one-half inch to cause the appropriate operation.When the course which is held upon the needles is combined with the nextfull 400 -needle course on the 49th course the selvage will turr overinto a tube and an elastic top selvage will be formed. '1 his operationis much more satisfactory than would result when dial bits are utilizedand loop stitches are held over the dial bits while knitting the topselvage. This avoids knitting a fabric with undue stress and permits abetter knitted footlet and it does not form an uneven knitted fabric.The fabric which is thus formed is highly useful for footlets but may beused for other types of fabric where elasticity is desired without unduetension or gathering.

DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS With the foregoing and other objects in view,the invention consists of the novel construction, combination andarrangement of parts as hereinafter more specifically described, andillustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein is shown an embodimentof the invention, but it is to be understood that changes, variationsand modifications can be resorted to which fall within the scope of theclaims hereunto appended.

In the drawings wherein like reference characters denote correspondingparts throughout the several views:

FIG. I is a front elevational view of a socklet according to the presentinvention.

FIG. 2 is a transverse sectional view on the line 22 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary view showing the stitch structure ofFIG. 1.

DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENT The footlets A, as indicated uponFIGS. 1, 2 and 3, are produced by vertical needle action on a 400-needleSeamless Fidelity Knitting Machine, Model LBMD dual feed. The transferjacks or dial bits on the machine are not utilized.

In the knitting procedure, the fabric B consists of a knitted fabricknitted on 400 needles of about 200 courses, which may extend from 60 to61. The portion from 60 to 61 will have between 190 to 220 courses anddesirably about 210 courses, and the bottom edge 62 is seamed to closethe bottom of the footlet or socklet. The portion B is desirably formedof a 70- denier stretch nylon, two ends per strand, with two feeds, onefeed having an S twist and the other end having a Z twist to preventtorque.

The important feature of the present invention resides in the uppertubular portion C, which forms the integrally knitted band. Thisweltlike portion consists of 50 courses which are knitted on thealternating needles, that is 200 needles held down and holding the firstcourse. The tubular portion C is knitted of 40-denier Lycra. Thepreferred Lycra yarn has two ends of ZO-denier nylon yarn wound aroundit,

The first course knitted at 60 is a locking course and it is knittedwith 400 needles, whereupon the 200 needles hold the loops down and thenext 40 to 60 courses, or preferably 48 courses, are knitted on thealternate 200 needles to form the tubular structure C. Then all of the400 needles are restored to knitting position and the knitting willcontinue with the 400 needles to give the body 8 of the footlet orsocklet, This will result in a tubular double layer structure at C whichwill be elastic and which will serve in lieu of any added elasticstrands which would normally be stitched on to the interior face of thetop edge of the socklet.

The locking course 200 is shown in FIG. 3 and it forms the junction andconnection between the 50 coulse two-ply weltlike structure C and thesingle-ply 210 course body structure B of the footlet or socklet. It maybe noted that the 210 courses which are knitted on 400 needles areproduced with 70-denier two-end stitched nylon yarn having oppositetwists to prevent any torque.

The end portion or lower portion 62 of the socket may consist of eightto 10 courses which are knitted on the 400 needles and are produced witha spun-rayon yarn, blue in color, so that the seaming operator will havea visible guide area for seaming shut the bottom end of the footlet witha Merrow Sewing Machine.

Referring particularly to FIG. 3, this shows the loop area indicated at20, in the upper portion of the footlet as shown in FIG. I with theloops stretched to maximum extend both walewise and coursewise. Thelocking courses 200 forms the connection between the single-ply B andthe double C. Adjacent the locking course 200 it will be noted thatthere are no substantial loops, but the coils or turns 205 engage everysecond line of Wales at the junction 60. Throughout the structure asshown in FIG. 3, there will be lines of Wales 206 which extend throughthe single-ply portion A and into the face of the double-ply portion at207 in FIG. 3. Intervening Wales however, as indicated at 208 on thefront side and 209 on the rear side will be double or triple width.

Directly below the banding course 205 the loops will have oblique topportions 210. This not only produces atop knitted tubular structureeliminating the need of additional foreign elastic material but alsopermits the formation of an integrated structure which will more closelyfit the foot of the user.

The present socklet or footlet is preferably knitted on a 400- needleFidelity 3 to 3 l/4-inch cylinder LBMD. The body of the footlet orsocket B is desirably made of a low stretch yarn, while the tubulardouble-ply elastic section C is made of a high-stetch yarn, both beingknitted as a continuous operation.

Normally the knitting will knit the socket or footlet of FIGS. 1, 2 and3 upside down, with the tubular section C being knitted first. The firstcourse, which will form the structure at junction 60, is knitted of twoends of a Lycra yarn with nylon twisted around the yarn. This may be40-denier covered Lycra, with two ends of nylon twisted therearound.

This is first knitted on 400 needles and then the next 48 courses areknitted on 200 needles with alternating needles being held in downposition and the next 48 loops being knitted on 200 needles. Then thereis a final course in which the loop C is completed and the machine willrevert to 400 needles and to a 70-denier nylon stretch yarn forming abody.

The final knit is in the lower seam at 62, which may be eight l0courses, and consists of rayon. This will produce the socklet as shownwith an integrally elastic upper portion C.

As many changes could be made in the above footlet construction andmethod of making same, and many widely different embodiments of thisinvention could be made without departing from the scope of the claims,it is intended that all matter combined in the above description shallbe interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of theinvention, and in what manner the same is to be performed,

1. An integral knitted footlet with Wales and courses having an uppertubular elastic portion encircling the top of the footlet, a mainfoot-covering portion and a bottom longitudinal seam, the Wales beingreduced in number in said elastic portion and wider than the Wales inthe main portion, the elastic portion consisting of about 50 courses andthe foot-covering portion consisting of about 2 l0 courses, said tubularportion consisting of 40-denier Lycra yarn covered with ZO-denier nylonand said covering portion formed of 70-denier two-end stretch havingopposite twists to prevent torque.

2. The footlet of claim 1, said elastic portion having between 30 to 70courses and said body portion having about to 250 courses.

1. An integral knitted footlet with Wales and courses having an uppertubular elastic portion encircling the top of the footlet, a mainfoot-covering portion and a bottom longitudinal seam, the Wales beingreduced in number in said elastic portion and wider than the Wales inthe main portiOn, the elastic portion consisting of about 50 courses andthe foot-covering portion consisting of about 210 courses, said tubularportion consisting of 40-denier Lycra yarn covered with 20-denier nylonand said covering portion formed of 70-denier two-end stretch havingopposite twists to prevent torque.
 2. The footlet of claim 1, saidelastic portion having between 30 to 70 courses and said body portionhaving about 150 to 250 courses.